The latest update to Copilot Studio introduces an exciting new workflows feature designed to orchestrate agents as part of repeatable automation solutions. This feature allows users to add variables, conditional logic (if-else statements), loops, and integrate agentic actions such as prompts and skills. It even supports bringing humans into the loop when necessary.
Built on the same foundation as Power Automate and Agent Flows, the new workflows feature offers several enhancements and new capabilities that improve the automation experience.
To find the new workflows feature, navigate to the flows menu in Copilot Studio. You will notice a new "Workflow" button, which replaces the previous "Agent Flows" button. While you can still build agent flows, workflows are now the default.
The workflow editor combines familiarity with innovation:
- Trigger and Actions: Workflows start with a trigger and proceed with actions.
- Navigation: Unlike Power Automate flows that require scrolling, the new editor allows click-and-drag movement of actions, making navigation more intuitive.
- Connection Management: You can delete and reconnect connections between actions by drawing lines.
- Tidy Up Feature: If the workflow becomes tangled, a "tidy up" button snaps everything back into place.
- Orientation: You can switch the flow reading direction from left-to-right to top-to-bottom and vice versa.
- Find Feature: Pressing CRLF opens a find menu to quickly locate specific actions within large workflows.
Workflow Purpose
The example workflow automates email conversations for a car dealership. When a new email arrives, it classifies the message type (e.g., sales inquiry or message for a specific salesperson) and responds accordingly.
Workflow Breakdown
- Trigger: The workflow triggers when a new email arrives in the inbox using the Office 365 Outlook connector.
- Classify Action: A new classification action reads the email body and categorizes it into predefined categories such as "sales inquiry" or "message for specific salesperson." Examples are provided to improve classification accuracy.
- Testing Actions: Each action can be individually tested by inputting sample data, allowing for efficient debugging.
- Agent Call: If a sales inquiry is detected, the workflow calls an agent (either a Copilot Studio agent or an M365 Copilot) to generate a response based on the email content.
- Reply to Email: The agent's response is sent back as a reply to the original email.
Agent Integration
- You can select from existing Copilot Studio agents or create new ones within the workflow.
- M365 Copilot agents built through the agent builder experience are also supported.
- This dual support allows flexibility depending on user preference.
Example Agent Functionality
The example agent, "Sunrise Auto Reply Agent," answers questions about car sales by referencing an Excel price list and a Word document containing frequently asked questions.
Version History and Notes
- You can select and delete multiple actions at once.
- Version history allows restoring previous workflow versions and comparing changes.
- Notes can be added to workflow versions with color coding for easy identification.
Prompt Actions
- Prompts can be added as one-time actions without creating reusable templates.
- Inputs can be set to text, document, or image modes.
- Outputs can be plain text or structured JSON.
Connector Shortcuts
- Pressing Ctrl+K opens the connectors menu quickly.
Searching for Users and Forwarding Emails
- The workflow can search for users by name and forward emails accordingly.
- AI-generated expressions help extract the first user email from search results, simplifying complex expressions.
Variables
- Multiple variable actions (initialize, update) can be consolidated into a single action, reducing clutter.
Conditional Logic
- If-else statements now support multiple branches, similar to traditional programming languages, beyond just yes/no.
Loops
- Loops run in parallel by default, improving efficiency when processing multiple items.
- This action extracts specified fields from documents, acting like a mini pre-written prompt.
- It simplifies document processing without needing custom models.
Human Review Action
-
Allows inserting a human into the workflow for validation.
-
Sends interactive emails for reviewers to approve or reject documents and provide metadata.
-
When a customer submits a trade-in title document via email, the workflow extracts text, saves the file to SharePoint, and requests human review.
-
The human reviewer receives an interactive email to approve the document and provide review details.
-
The workflow updates SharePoint metadata based on the review.
-
Failed tests can be quickly fixed and rerun.
-
Inputs and outputs of each action can be inspected in detail.
The new workflows feature in Copilot Studio significantly enhances automation capabilities by combining intuitive design, powerful agent integration, advanced actions, and human-in-the-loop options. Whether automating email responses or processing important documents, this feature offers a flexible and efficient solution for complex workflows.
